Superstar Luka Doncic may not be able to strengthen the Dallas Mavericks in their Game 1 matchup against the Utah Jazz.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski detailed on Wednesday that there is “a lot of skepticism” surrounding the club about Doncic’s availability in the postseason opener, and they are now preparing for the chances that he’ll be sidelined for at least the first two games of the first-round series.
Woj further added that the phenom’s mild calf strain – which he sustained in the season finale against the San Antonio Spurs – might be even worse than what was imagined.
“The Mavericks are very much preparing for the possibility of not only maybe not having [Doncic] in Game 1, but maybe even Game 2 on Monday. If this was the regular season, you wouldn’t even be talking about him possibly playing this weekend,” Wojnarowski said (h/t Colin Ward-Henninger & Jasmyn Wimbish of CBS Sports). “I think you can expect him to go down to the wire Friday, Saturday on this. But a great deal of skepticism, concern about how soon he will be available in this playoff series against Utah.”
If ever Doncic will miss the earliest parts of the seven-game combat, the Mavs will heavily rely both on Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie – two of the team’s most reliable players and backup ball handlers behind the Slovenian star. Still, facing the Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert-led Jazz without their de facto main man will be a rigorous task to deal with. Despite holding home-court advantage, Dallas will definitely be underdogs without Luka’s brilliance and scoring power.
No matter what would be the latest reports for the following days to come, Jason Kidd certainly has to call a “next man up” mentality in his squad. The Mavs-Jazz Game 1 combat is set to tip off on Saturday inside the American Airlines Center.
